The idea of the establishment of a Jewish Museum in Cape Town was first proposed in 1938, in connection with the collection of antiques belonging to the late Reverend Bender of the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, who passed away in December 1937. With the outbreak of the Second World War, however, it was deemed advisable to postpone the idea. The Museum, located in the Old Synagogue of the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation in Hatfield Street, was first opened to the public in August 1958. The first Curator to be appointed was Mr F. L. Friedlander, ‘a distinguished art connoisseur’.